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EDICOLA / KIOSK | LADINBolzano/Bozen, Göttingen, 25. August 2006
According to the Society for Threatened People (GfbV), more
than 200 members of the Oromo people disappeared after they have
been arrested on 22 August 2006 in the western regions of
Ethiopia. On Friday he GfbV-referent for African matters in
Göttingen, Ulrich Delius, expressed his concerns since so
far the relatives were denied any information concerning the
fates of the arrested persons. Moreover, no charge has yet been
brought against them. Referring to eye-witness reports, the
members of the Oromo people were arrested in the district of
Tukur Inchinni, around 125 km west of the local capital Addis
Abeba, and taken on trucks to an unknown destination.
The Oromo people constitute one of the largest ethnic groups in
Ethiopia. Since November 2005, several thousands of them have
been arrested because they protested against the persecution of
their members within the multiethnic state of Ethiopia. For
month, many of the arrested people have been kept imprisoned
without any contact to the external world. In recent times,
especially schoolkids and students have become the victims of
these persecutions since they were demonstrating against the
arrests of leaders of the Oromo welfare organization Macha
Tulama, or against the shifting of the local capital from Addis
Abeba to Adama, and because they were claiming more autonomy for
the Oromo people.